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Green energy Fuel stations in and around the city are now increasingly installing solar energy systems in order to ensure uninterrupted power supply to run their machines By Haroon Akram Gill Given the fact that the power outages are an unavoidable part of their life, those people who sold fossil fuels are now saving green energy to run their businesses. TNS learns that fuel stations in and around the city are now increasingly installing solar energy systems in order to ensure uninterrupted power supply to run their machines. This is not only helping them to avoid the high tariff rates of electricity but is also a positive means to keeping the environment clean as they would no more be polluting it with heavy carbon emitted from diesel generators. MOOD
STREET Town
Talk
A
classical apart
Green energy Fuel stations in and around the city are now increasingly installing solar energy systems in order to ensure uninterrupted power supply to run their machines By Haroon Akram Gill Given the fact
that the power outages are an unavoidable part of their life, those people
who sold fossil fuels are now saving green energy to run their businesses.
TNS learns that fuel stations in and around the city are now increasingly
installing solar energy systems in order to ensure uninterrupted power
supply to run their machines. This is not only helping
them to avoid the high tariff rates of electricity but is also a positive
means to keeping the environment clean as they would no more be polluting
it with heavy carbon emitted from diesel generators. According to the Energy
Department Punjab Government, Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) is
facing a shortfall of 1000MW as against the demand of 2500MW. The result
is 6-18 hours of load shedding in urban and rural areas, while most of the
industry is running on 40-50% capacity. Ahmad, the owner of a
PSO petrol station in Tajpura, is quite satisfied with the solar system of
4.5KVA he installed some two years ago. His petrol station has six filling
points, besides an ATM machine of a bank. He says the one-time investment
of approximately Rs2m has saved him a lot of nuisance and trouble. “On
an average, it saves me Rs100,000 monthly which would earlier be spent on
the diesel consumed by the generator. “Our machines are able
to run from 9am till 10pm on solar energy and we need WAPDA only for a
maximum of two hours. This is a source of great satisfaction to us,
especially considering the huge saving it affords us at a time when the
cost of commercial electricity has spiked.” Ahmad is happy about the
other savings regarding the human resource and the maintenance of
generators because the solar system he has installed came with warranty
and the only maintenance expenses he has to bear are related to the change
of batteries which would happen once in four years. On GT road, next to the
University of Engineering and Technology (UET), the same company has
another petrol station which boasts a 6KVA solar installation working all
too successfully. There are other petrol stations at Ferozpur Road and
Johar Town which are also installing the same. An official at Total’s
Y-block DHA point says the company has now made solar installation
mandatory for every petrol point in the city. Moazziz Sohail, project
manager of a company called JKS which deals in solar power installations,
tells TNS that a good quality system of 6KVA costs approximately Rs1.4
million. There is no license
requirement for an installation lesser than 2MW. According to Moazziz,
the prices may be very high for domestic users but they are affordable for
the corporate sector which is increasingly looking towards alternative
energy. However, he is quick to
add that the “private sector cannot take the sole responsibility of
this. The government must take necessary steps in this regard.” Adil is a design
engineer at Nizam Energy, a company dealing in solar systems. He says that
the UET has installed a solar system of 36 KVA for their Computer Science
department. Adil also speaks of
domestic users of the system in Lahore, “Presently, we have more than 70
clients in DHA alone.” He claims that there are
15-20 different qualities of solar energy systems available in the market,
their prices ranging between Rs50,000 per KVA to Rs250,000 per KVA.
Though, a high-end system of 3 KVA can be purchased for Rs750,000, with 10
years of warranty. Dry batteries are used
for backup and need to be changed every four years, a single battery
costing Rs60,000. On the other hand, the
Punjab government has a few plans up its sleeve. A solar plant of 10MW in
Kasur, with private partnership, is in the works. Experts say there should
be a hybrid system so that the energy produced through alternative
resources may be entered into the system to help overcome the shortfall.
This would also have a healthy impact on the environment and the role of
the country to counter the global climate crisis.
Shallow discussions By Amel Ghani Watching a play
recently about three political leaders come back to Pakistan became a
glaring example of how at times we use creative license to dispel certain
aspects from our narrative. How we choose to remain merely on the surface
of our problems and make no attempt to question things in their entirety. As the discussion
started with Jinnah questioning a Christian sweeper (ahem! stereotype
much?) about the treatment of minorities in Pakistan, the play appeared
promising. However, this discussion stops only with the sweeper telling
Jinnah of some of the heinous crimes committed against Christians in
Pakistan, making no attempt to trace this treatment. This too was largely
left undone when Jinnah, at the end, is seen calling out Bhutto for the
separation of East Pakistan and screams, “un ka mazhab to aik tha” —
a dialogue that stunned me much like Jinnah was stunned by a PTI supporter
screaming, “a leader does not drink.” Mr Jinnah, was religion
the only reason the two halves should have stayed together despite the
growing social and political injustice done to them? Then what is the
point of constantly arguing the minority principle? When the core of our
discussion on living in a Muslim country revolves around prostitution and
alcohol consumption, there is definitely something inherently wrong with
us. We constantly seem to trivialise the political problems this country
is facing. Jinnah consumed alcohol,
Bhutto consumed and banned alcohol while Zia devised a punishment for
alcohol consumption. This to us seems to be the only example of our slow
demise into an intolerant society obsessed with trivialities. We forget to
realise that nightclubs and bars were only one aspect of our culture that
fell prey to the mindless rants and pressure of orthodox religious
factions and parties. When questioning
policies let us look at the Hudood laws and question the way in which they
took the status of women back by a few centuries. Why do we stop at
prostitution and alcohol? Perhaps because the banning of these affected
men the most. Let us look at the
disgusting way in which a rape victim was treated. While some of these
laws have been reversed our system and society have still not recovered
from the mindset inculcated. Then why only stop at
policies? Should we not question where is this very narrow and intolerant
mindset coming from? Did it start just because of Zia’s Islamisation
policies or were these policies a bid to appeal to a growing pattern of
thought? Should we not go deeper and explore the message that was sent out
by the Muslim League at the time of Partition? The rhetoric used to gain
votes had religious overtones to it. The very name of the party used
religious identity. Should we not question
why we failed to move beyond our religious identity and become a state for
minorities that most seculars claim (citing the example of the white part
in our flag to represent minorities) Jinnah wanted? Must we really only
question Bhutto for the separation of East Pakistan without discussing the
riots in 1948, in Jinnah’s lifetime, over choosing Urdu as the national
language? Is that not where dissent started and constant dominance of the
west over political power made it worse? Our issues are more
complex and the burden for each cannot simply be put on any one leader or
personality. When we limit the discussion to some of the most trivial
effects of growing social intolerance we are in fact lowering the general
IQ of the public. This narrative then
becomes a part of the general discussion in society. It prevents people
from going beyond the surface and trying to understand a larger pattern.
It is the same attitude that prompts people to run to a five-year old rape
victim’s house, question her parents’ ability to take care of her and
ask her family for their ‘response’ to the incident. Instead, should
the discussion not be focusing on the kind of mindset that allows someone
to rape an innocent child? It is this notion to
treat one incident in isolation that undermines our ability to understand
things, leading to a population obsessed with absolute trivialities. This in turn affects the
kind of society that is made — the kind that creates a huge fuss over
teaching comparative religion but will not say anything against growing
intolerance.
*Chatime opens its first
outlet in Pakistan at MM Alam on Oct 25. One of the world’s biggest
‘Bubble Tea’ brands, with over 1000 stores across the globe, Chatime
is a tea franchise that is also known as the fresh tea specialist. Guests
and media are expected to mix with inte *‘Dard-e-Natamam,’
UCP’s annual play ’13, to be staged on Oct 23 and Oct 24 at 3:30pm. *Fundraising Gala Dinner
with Rahat Fateh Ali Khan at Shaukat Khanum Memorial
Cancer Hospital and Research Centre on Oct
26. *Pret-a-Porter Lounge, a
multi-designer outlet to be launched on Oct 26 at 10-Q (old PFDC
building), Gulberg II. The prices are said to be “very affordable.” *Solo exhibition by
Mahmood Hayat, an artist and designer from National College of Arts (NCA),
continues at Nairang Art Gallery. Hayat claims to paint “beauty” as a
“remedy” of the “chaos and suffering” there is in human life.
alternative Muhammad Akram,
a cheerful gentleman in his late 50s, is always on the move. His day
starts early and he travels endlessly to several destinations throughout
the city. Occasionally, he has to travel out of station and visit
different cities and towns that fall on the way. Akram’s permanent
companion is a pitch-black bag which is hung on his right shoulder. His
attachment with the bag is something extraordinary and he is seen
constantly stroking it gently even when he is talking to others. On
occasions, he would even hold it close to his c Those who meet Akram for
the first time get quite suspicious about the bag. But the moment he lifts
up the flap and pulls out a wooden box together with a tweezer-shaped
tool, the suspicion is overtaken by amazement. The box covered with a
net carries live honey bees. Period. Akram uses the sting of
these bees to treat patients suffering from different diseases, especially
muscular pains, arthritis, blood infections and blockade of veins. “I make a honey bee
bite at a specific point on a patient’s body. Within minutes the venom
starts working and there’s a marked improvement,” says Akram who deals
with patients visiting him at his house as well those that call him over
to their place. The bee flies away after
leaving the sting along with the stinger inside the body of the patient.
This process badly damages the entrails of a bee which expires shortly
after the bite. The venom it leaves inside the patient’s body purifies
the blood, makes it thinner and clears the veins of any blockades, claims
Akram. On patients’ choices,
he says, the affluent prefer to have treatment at their houses as it
avoids them the hassle of travelling to the congested Ravi Road locality
where he lives. Similarly, the patients who cannot move easily due to
severity of pain are advised to stay back home and get treated there. This mode of treatment
is called apitherapy, which is fast becoming popular in the West. In
Pakistan, there are fewer exp Akram’s clientele is
increasing through referrals and he does not depend a lot on conventional
methods of marketing. A person satisfied with the results of his treatment
refers others to him and the numbers keep on increasing. Muhammad Saleem, 42,
manages a mechanic workshop. Earlier in the year, he suffered from
tuberculosis and others diseases which affected his nervous system. It
became extremely difficult to move his left arm. The pain would be so
severe that it would make him cry. He tried endless remedies but to no
use. “One day a friend of
mine told me about this man. I was not convinced but I half-heartedly
agreed to give it a try. Today I am perfectly fine,” says Saleem. He swings his left arm
in different directions to prove it is functioning properly. It took Akram
around two months to treat his arm. Akram tells TNS it is
“an art to apply honey bee sting to a patient. There is a proper way to
hold the bee, identify the exact spot on a patient’s body which may be
away from the point where it hurts and press the bee against the
patient’s body.” Akram says he learnt the
art from his father who had learnt it from a British lady who lived in the
sub-continent in 1927. The lady’s son was suffering from arthritis, so
she asked his father — a honey bee farmer — to apply honey bees on
him. The lady had read books on apitherapy and strongly believed in the
healing powers of this method of treatment. For his part, Akram
catches the honey bees from fruit stalls, sharbat shops, sugarcane
crushing machines on the roadside and even the beehives. They have to be
fresh. In summers, the honey bees are caught every day as they cannot
survive for more than a day due to heat. In winters they can survive for a
couple of days in captivity. The price tag is
different in different cases, depending on the affordability of the
patient. Akram is content with whatever he gets and says he is often
compensated for by the affluent patients who pay an extra few bucks once
they recover. Samina, a housewife, is
one such patient who is based on the Outfall Road. She is being charged
nominally for the treatment. Till a few months back,
Samina was bed-ridden and was wrongly diagnosed to have bone cancer. She
says even though she has not recovered hundred per cent, the improvement
post apitherapy treatment is quite noticeable. According to Akram, it
is strange that many patients avoid the treatment he offers for fear of
the honey bee sting. “They should not worry as the sting hurts far less
than an injection does. Besides, it has no harmful side effects.” Prof Dr Ashfaq, former
Dean, Department of Entomology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad,
terms apitherapy an effective mode of treatment, especially for patients
of arthritis. He says that when a honey bee bites a person it deposits the
sting in the various glands which carry chemicals — most of them having
immense healing powers. These secretions help to treat different diseases. Ashfaq, who has won both
Tamgha-e-Imtiaz and Sitara-e-Imtiaz for his contributions to agricultural
sciences, is expert in integrated pest management (IPM). The subject, he
says, deals with the positive impacts of various insects on human beings. The healing powers of a
bee sting are also covered under the IPM and is today used widely in the
US and the UK for treatment of diseases, he concludes. shahzada.irfan@gmail.com
A
classical apart At a time when
concerts in Lahore are a rarity and classical music also seems to be
fading away into oblivion, the Al Held at Alhamra The
Mall, the APMC this year offered a special treat for lovers of Indian
classical music. Apart from demonstrating Hindustani, Carnatic and Dhrupad
performances, the conference brought forth exclusive percussion solos and
relaxing instrumentals. However, a gender gap
could be observed with male artists outnumbering their female counterparts
in almost all genres. Despite popular claims
that classical music is gradually fading away or that it has failed to
inspire the youth of the country, one saw swarms of young people advancing
towards the hall. The frenzy and the rejuvenation, the whoops and claps
resounded in the hall as the music devotees applauded the performers. The packed to capacity
Hall II of Alhamra was testimony to the fact that the audiences still
crave for such initiatives. Sadly, more than a ‘perceived’ diminishing
public interest in classical music, it is the lack of proper
infrastructure and opportunities that deprive us of the live performances
of our music virtuosos. In the words of the
young, award-winning documentary filmmaker Ammar Aziz, who claims to be a
regular at the Music Conference “for the past few years,” “Today, we
need the APMC more than ever because we’re faced with the growing
influence of an anti-art rhetoric. “The ethos of our
classical music can certainly fight such religious extremist narrative
despite being highly non-political in essence, merely on the strength of
its aesthetic which invokes a very subjective reaction.” The five-day APMC opened
with performances by school, college and university students contesting
for Ghazanfar and Syed Wajid Ali trophies and Jamil Mazhar and Mazari
medals. The amateurs, on the other hand, were competing for Hayat Ahmed
Khan Trophy, in addition to Ansari, Abdul Aziz, Pervaiz Murad and Meraj
medals. Abdul Rauf, a classical
vocalist and a teacher at the Alhamra Academy of Performing Arts, besides
being a winner of the Best Music Academy for the last four years, also
took a few queries from TNS. He said, “All Pakistan Music Conference is
a prestigious platform where all established Pakistani singers have had a
chance to perform. Not only does it provide us with an opportunity [to
perform], it also teaches us the ethics of music performance. Of course,
it also educates us about our artists. I feel privileged to be a part of
the Music Conference’s journey.” The APMC’s second day
was marked by performances by the younger generation of classical gharanas.
The mesmerising duo by Nayab and Inam from Patiala gharana earned laurels
for themselves, while Shujat Ali Khan from Sham Chaurasi gharana with his
myriad variations of raga Madh Kalyan lent a meditative mood to the
evening. Sajid Ali Faridi’s performance of raga Kalawati was a complete
blend of aesthetic subtlety and listening pleasure. The highlight of the
third and the fourth days was folk, light classical and classical
musicales by outstanding ustads such as Ustad Habib ur Rehman, Ustad Aleem
Shakir and Ustad Abdul Rauf. Their performances carried a youthful fervour
and, hence, not a single moment of slackness was witnessed among the
audience. Hints of popular songs
in the enthralling bols of compositions like raga Bhimpalasi (“Ja ja re
apne mandirwa”) and raga Chandarkauns (“Aj hu na aye balam”) filled
the evening with nostalgia. The last day saw an even
larger audience. Plenty of people were found waiting in queues outside the
hall entrance and a lot of them were unable to find a seat once they made
it inside. They had to sit on the stairs. Ustad Nasirudin Sami
from Delhi gharana began the night with rich classical notes. He was
followed by Ustad Fateh Ali Khan Hyderabadi who presented raga Darbari.
Next came the most awaited act of the entire show — Ustad Fateh Ali Khan
from Patiala gharana. The atmosphere instantly went electric. The audience
gave him a standing ovation. There was deafening
applause in the hall as he rendered raga Bhopali in his spellbinding voice
which appeared as fresh as ever even at age 78. One of the foremost Khyal
vocalists alive in Pakistan, Ustad Fateh Ali Khan seemed to connect with
the audience immediately. Aaliya Rasheed, Fahim
Mazhar and Zehra Kazim welcomed the break of the dawn with their gripping
execution of ragas Gujari Todi, Basant and Desh respectively. Ustad
Shafqat Salamat Ali Khan’s raga Beraagi and Sindhi Bhairvi reinvigorated
a now sleep-heavy audience — at 7 in the morning. Structuring the ragas
with lengthy subsections, traversing the octaves with immense ease and
with his dazzling taans and sophisticated use of techniques like meend and
gamak, he clearly stole the show. The All Pakistan Music
Conference bid adieu to the music buffs at 8am with a final performance of
raga Mian ki Todi by Ustad Hamid Ali Khan. Traditionally performed in the
late morning, Todi is allegorically visualised as a beautiful woman,
holding Veena while standing in a thick forest. Expressing both
devotional and sentimental moods, Ustad Hamid Ali Khan created an aura of
profound and poignant melody, leaving a lasting impression on the crowd.
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rnational
Chatime delegation which is visiting Pakistan for the launch.
hest.
erts
of the therapy and Akram happens to be one of them. He is regularly
invited by the University of Punjab, Lahore and the University of
Agriculture (UAF), Faisalabad to deliver lectures on the subject.
l
Pakistan Music Conference (APMC), continues to play a pivotal role in
keeping the great traditions of music alive. The APMC, ever since its
inception in 1959, has been a constant source of inspiration for thousands
of music aficionados from all over the country, the recently concluded
five-day event being one such experience. 
